No apartments to rent? Let them eat cake. (UPDATED)

August 15, 2018

OCTOBER 5, 2018 UPDATE:

Want to see how many potential houses and apartments are currently in use as AirBNBs right now? Check this out.

AUGUST 15, 2018:

One of my favorite apocryphal anecdotes from history is Marie Antoinette’s famous remark, “Let them eat cake.” The doomed French queen had just been told that the people of France were starving and could not afford bread.

But Charlottetown mayor Clifford Lee responded recently to the housing crisis in about the same tone and manner. During a CBC on-radio panel discussion, Lee said: “I don’t know who ever said, ‘If you’re on social assistance or if you’re living in affordable homes, you have to rent.’ What’s wrong with home ownership for some of these people?” (CBC article)

This type of comment is incredibly frustrating to hear from anyone, let alone a mayor of a city currently suffering from a housing crisis. But it’s especially infuriating because Lee, who is about to end his tenure as the mayor of Charlottetown this year, just accepted a position as Housing Advisor with the provincial government of Prince Edward Island. This type of advisor position is sorely needed for this very serious issue.

However—and this is just an idea—someone who knows something about what it’s like to look for a home as a low-income senior or a person making minimum wage or living on social assistance would be much, much better suited for the position.

People who are oblivious to the real-life struggles of being a low-income individual, the type who would be so flabberghasted about why renters don’t just all buy homes, should not have such an important role in our provincial government. The government would be foolish to retain Lee’s employment in this role. If they can’t replace him, they should be embarrassed at their mistake.

The Province, meanwhile, is enthusiastically advertising their feel-good stories about Islanders who came back to PEI after leaving and now have successful businesses and happy lives, here in Canada’s smallest province. I’d love to see the province’s population continue to grow, but not if we don’t have anywhere to put them.

Charlottetown and other areas of Prince Edward Island are currently struggling with a severe housing crisis; rental availability is under the 1% mark, mostly due to the number of Air BNB rental units now available across the province

Houses have also recently increased in price substantially in the past one to two years

Rental availability due to Air BNB rentals has cause housing issues in many other cities

The City of Charlottetown seems extremely reluctant to regulate Air BNB rentals because these types of rentals bring tourists in the summer and tourism is very important to the province’s economy